1. Starting off, if we were Palmer we would be disappointed that our top assistant is being taken away from our project. However, after taking an objective view of the situation, we would be able to realize it was the best move for the company. The situation was not working out because we were losing valuable work time from an employee. Because management decided on Olds working on the Crosby’s project, we would like management to find us a suitable replacement. Olds was a good employee, but he now works for Crosby and we cannot change that.
We would set up a meeting with management. Attending the meeting would be Crosby and us. We would voice our displeasure with how Crosby was attracting Olds with incentives such as golfing and baseball tickets. The meeting would hopefully end any future conflicts similar to the current one. 2. Keeping Olds would have been extremely difficult as he was juggling between two projects at once. Palmer could have, however, went to management at the beginning of the decision to use Olds in both jobs.
By voicing concerns to management about Olds’ priorities and ability to work two jobs at once, management might have assigned Olds to only one project. This would have been the best solution because even if Olds was assigned to Crosby’s project, a suitable replacement could have been assigned to Palmer’s project from the start. Keeping Olds when he was working on both projects may have also been achieved by being communicative with Olds. Let Olds know how important he is to the project and create a work schedule to ensure that he devotes as much time as possible to Palmer’s project.
Offering more incentives to Olds would also have been effective because it seemed to motivate him when Crosby was taking him out golfing and giving him baseball tickets. 3. The main advantage of a matrix type organization is the sharing of resources and knowledge. Resources are shared between all projects and this could possibly save the company money. Also, the projects each have their own managers which can make the project completion time faster. A disadvantage would be the conflict and tension that can build between the project managers.
This case showed the perfect problem. Because the project managers were sharing an employee, there might be an instance when the employee devotes more time to one project thus hindering his performance on the other project. There can be power struggles in the company as well high office strain and anxiety. Lastly, there isn’t a clear level of hierarchy because the employee does not know who to answer to first or which job takes precedent. 4. Management at Moss and McAdams could have a stipulation that disallows the sharing of important employees between different projects.
If the employee is asked to do an important and crucial task to the project, then he should only be assigned to a single project. Additionally, management should make sure that work policies should be consistent between different levels of the organization. For example, incentives given to employees should be the same in each equal department. By letting departments decide what incentives to give the employees, employees’ attitudes and commitment might be swayed towards one project over the other. Management should also be on top of the schedules of each project and make sure that no conflicts occur between different projects.
